


no one is alone

by whatwefound



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Angst, Other, Sickfic, i wanna friendship between these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24871471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatwefound/pseuds/whatwefound
Summary: brad gets sick at work, and rachel discovers he's more human than she thought
Relationships: Brad Bakshi & Rachel, Dana/Rachel (Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 45





	no one is alone

After the quarantine, things had finally begun to pick back up in the office.

This was perfect for Rachel. While she was able to play Mythic Quest at home the same as at the office, it was great to be back working with everyone. Well, mostly it was great to be working with Dana. They didn’t get to spend much time as testers again before the virus hit, so to be able to sit next to again felt close to a miracle. Sadly, Dana was out visiting family, which left her alone with her thoughts. Rachel’s fingers moved her controller toggles back and forth as she searched for bugs in the game, but she seemed to come up with nothing. 

Bored, she peeked out the window to spy on office workers. It was one of her and Dana’s favorite games to play when days were slow and their eyes needed a break from the large tv. She tried to picture her friend laughing beside her, coming up with funny things the people were saying, but instead she just felt tired and empty.

_ Work sucks when Dana’s not here, _ she thought, sighing.

Suddenly, her eyes caught something strange. Looking into the board room across the space from the tester’s room, she saw the department heads in a meeting. Most of it was normal, like the anger on Poppy and Ian’s faces, or David with his head in his hands, but what surprised her was Brad. She was used to seeing the head of monetization with a smug grin on his face, smirking at the chaos in front of him. It was something she had seen a thousand times before, but not today. He looked exhausted, spaced out and staring in front of him as if he didn’t even notice the people around him speaking.

Rachel felt a twinge of worry in her chest, but immediately shook it off, realizing that this was  _ Brad.  _ She sank back onto the couch, picking back up her controller.  _ He doesn’t care about anybody, why should I care about him? _

…

Later in the day, she noticed walking past David and Brad’s office that the blinds were closed. It wasn’t the weirdest occurrence, but it still piqued her interest. Her mind went back to that morning and how strange Brad had looked. Slowly, she opened the door, but then opened it fully once she realized that all the lights were off. Rachel moved to leave, but jumped once she saw someone lying with their head on their desk.

“Brad?”

No response.

“Hey man, you awake?”

Silence.

“Well that was a stupid question.” She mumbled to herself as she moved over to him, “Of course he isn’t awake.”

She placed her hand on his forehead, pulling back once she realized he was burning up.  _ Shit,  _ she thought,  _ he’s sick.  _ Immediately she stepped back and ran to her office.

…

Ten minutes later Rachel returned having washed her hands, put on gloves, and slapped on a mask to cover her mouth.

“Just survived a pandemic, not taking any chances.”   


Brad was still fast asleep, causing the worry in her chest to return. She shook him gently awake.

“Hey, you gotta wake up.”

Brad groaned into his sweater, “No.”

“You’re sick, I gotta figure out what to do with you.”

“Let me sleep...”

“Come on man, you’re acting like a kid. David is going to come in and see you like this.”

“David’s at couples therapy or some shit, he’s not coming back today. And fuck you.”

Rachel chose to ignore the last part, “I can’t just let you sleep here, you need to take care of yourself.”

Brad’s hand reached out, fumbling across his desk to grab a water bottle. “I’m taking care of myself.” he responded, taking a swig. Immediately after he shot into a coughing fit, which tired him into laying his head back down.

_ Fuck it.  _ She grabbed him by the shoulders and helped him sit up in his chair, “I’m taking you back to your house, and you don’t get a say in it. You would sleep this off way better in a bed.”

Brad stared at her for a long time, as if trying to figure out how to respond. Finally he sighed, “Fine, but I hate you.”

“It’s mutual.” She responded, pulling him out of his chair.

…

Sometimes Rachel thinks about how normal her life was before she became a tester. She never would’ve pictured working with people like CW and Lou, who seemed to be clinically insane. She never would’ve pictured having to spend 18 hour days at work, playing video games until her eyes physically ached. Most of all, she never would’ve pictured taking care of a sick Brad. While she drove, he sat snoozing in the passenger's seat, in his arms a bag of gatorade, soup, and crackers that she had bought on their way to his house. 

Brad took a deep breath beside her and groaned, pulling her from her thoughts. His eyes were closed, but he seemed to be awake as he was rubbing his arms.

“What are you doing?” she questioned.

“M’cold.” Brad responded, seeming not to notice the sweat covering his forehead.

“Well, we’re almost to your house I believe.” She checked the address she had put into GoogleMaps, “About ten minutes.”

He nodded, then paused, “I don’t feel good.”

“I bet. You definitely have a fever.”

“I feel really out of it.”

“Just relax, it’s fine. You can lay down as soon as we get there.”

“Ok,” Brad nodded again, resting his head against the window, “thanks.”

Rachel looked over to him, shocked. She was about to ask him to repeat himself, but he was already asleep.

…

Rachel knew firsthand how much Brad loved money. After all, he had told her himself when she had begged for him to give Dana her job back. But pulling up to his house she realized that she hadn’t even imagined where he lived. His house was simple but beautiful, a two-story cottage decorated by bushes and trees. He had a wraparound deck with a porch swing, which for the life of her Rachel couldn’t picture him using. In all, the house made her hate the small apartment she was living in even more.

She reached over and gently shook the man awake, “Hey, we’re home.”

Brad woke up slowly and bleary-eyed, lifting his head up to look around. When she realized that he wasn’t going to say anything, Rachel got out of the car to help him into his home.

“I didn’t realize how nice your house was.” She stated, leading him with their bag of supplies.

“It’s just a house.” Brad responded, taking out his keys to unlock the door.

“Still, it’s nice as hell.”

Brad was silent for a moment, then repeated himself, “It’s just a house. That’s all it is.”

Rachel stood there confused as Brad opened the door. He left the door open for her as he walked in, leaving her with a full view of the inside. The house was just as stunning as the outside, with sleek furniture and appliances. The whole space fit into a navy and white color scheme, as if it had been dropped in through a catalog. It was effortlessly classy, but something about it made Rachel stop.

_ There’s nothing personal here.  _ she realized,  _ Nothing that makes this place… his. _

She looked around, searching for photographs, decorations, or anything with sentimental value, and became more and more concerned as she went. Suddenly the sound of a cough behind her shook her from her thoughts.

“The kitchen is to the right,” Brad said, yawning, “I can make myself the soup later. You probably want to get back to work.”

Rachel nodded, eager to end the strangeness of this experience, and moved over to the marble countertop she spotted. As she placed the bag down, her eyes caught on something: a small framed photograph. Instantly she picked it up, examining it. In the picture was a small boy in a baseball uniform, not any older than ten, beaming from ear to ear in front of a man and a woman.  _ Him and his parents,  _ she realized.

Out of the entire day, this part was the strangest. Brad had never talked about his family. When Rachel had asked him what he cared about, he didn’t even remotely mention them. It was as if they were nonexistent to him. Connecting the dots, she realized why the photo of him was when he was little

_ They’re gone. Something happened, and they’re not in his life anymore. _

Instantly the house, which had at first seemed beautiful, felt big and depressing.  _ It’s just a house,  _ she remembered him saying, _that’s all it is_. From the bland color scheme and the overt niceness of it all to the singular photo of a young boy that never would have pictured being the cruel person he is today.

_ He’s lonely. _

Rachel walked over to the living room, now looking sad and plain instead of trendy, where Brad was lying in a daze. Looking at him there, still in his stupid sweater/dress shirt combo, he looked more human than she had ever seen him. That worry that she had been feeling all day suddenly allowed itself to flood over. She walked over to him, crouching down to his level.

“Hey man, do you mind if I stay for a little while?” She put her hand on his arm, “I don’t think I can trust you to use a stove right now.”

Brad looked over to her, and seemed to release a breath she didn’t think even he knew he was holding. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I have to repay my debt to you somehow.” She thought of the tester room.  _ I have Dana with me, let me be here with you now. _

“That’s fine, I guess.” He refused to make eye contact.

“Cool.” Rachel stood up.

“Hey,” Brad sat up a bit, “don’t you have to get back to work?”

“It’s fine." she smiled, "It was a slow day anyways.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic i've ever written! so hope this was good :/
> 
> i just wanna.,,... talk to someone abt brad. he's got me thinking.


End file.
